Come to Texas
Attracting Immigrants, 1865-1915
978-1-58544-267-6 Cloth
6.12 x 9.25 x 0 in
264 pp. 16 b&w illus., 2 tables., Notes.
Pub Date: 07/22/2003
Available
Rozek traces the efforts first of the state government (until 1876) and then of private organizations, agencies, businesses, and individuals to entice people to Texas. The appeals, in whatever form, were to hope—hope for lower infant mortality rates, business and farming opportunities, education, marriage—and they reflected the hopes of those writing. Rozek states clearly that the number of words cannot be proven to be linked directly to the number of immigrants (Texas experienced a population increase of 672 percent between 1860 and 1920), but she demonstrates that understanding the effort is itself important.
Using printed materials and private communications held in numerous archives as well as pictures of promotional materials, she shows the energy and enthusiasm with which Texans promoted their native or adopted home as the perfect home for others.
Texas is indeed an immigrant state—perhaps by destiny; certainly, Rozek demonstrates, by design.
Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University
About the Author
Published by Texas A&M University Press